Sara Wilson wants to pursue a career is children’s book illustrations. Photo: supplied.
Wagga artist Sara Wilson has been chosen by Sydney’s Powerhouse Museum to deliver digital creation workshops in both Parramatta and her hometown.
“I was chosen after signing up to a mentorship program in Wagga,” Ms Wilson said.
“The Powerhouse Museum interviewed me and took me to Sydney to do a workshop in Parramatta and I’ll now do the same thing in Wagga during the school holidays.”
The free three-day Creative Studio workshop is hosted at TAFE NSW’s Wagga Wagga campus (Cnr Macleay and Coleman Street) from 15 to 17 July and is designed for local high school students in grades 7 to 12.
The program aims to encourage students to use objects from the Powerhouse Museum’s vast collection as the starting point for their own character design and development.
“The workshops teach you how to use software application Procreate for digital creating, with an emphasis on how to design your own character alongside a small written descriptions. I take you through how to come up an idea for character and then how to use Procreate to bring them to life,” Ms Wilson said
“Procreate is my favourite digital creation app. All the other ones are subscription models that incur costs every month, but you can get Procreate for a one-off cost of $25.
“At the end of the workshop, you’ll produce a digital book that you get to take home, so you’ll become a published author. I would have killed to do something like this at that age.”
Sara Wilson’s digital art is gaining popularity. Photo: supplied.
Ms Wilson, 24, grew up in Newcastle but moved to Wagga to study visual arts at Charles Sturt University.
After plenty of hard work, her career has started to blossom.
“I just finished a big project with Arid Recovery, who runs a wildlife park in South Australia. They wanted me to re-do all their signage,” she said.
“My focus now is doing illustrations for children’s books. I’ve got a kids’ book in the works, it’s about a little girl who goes out with her grandfather to learn about native birds, I’m doing it with my sister Antoria, who is doing the writing.”
Ms Wilson has some simple advice for children who want to pursue a career in the arts but are told to do something more practical, like engineering.
“It does take a little bit of perseverance, I’m not going to lie, it’s taken me until age 24 to really get offered projects. But it’s one of those jobs you get so much satisfaction for. It’s definitely a networking game, but it’s a worthwhile career,” she said.
Her workshops would be a good start for aspiring young artists.
“We are thrilled to have Sara Wilson, a talented artist from our own community, leading these workshops,” said Tim Kurylowicz, executive director of Eastern Riverina Arts.
“Her innovative approach to digital art and commitment to storytelling will undoubtedly inspire the next generation of creators.”
Registration is recommended due to limited availability and can be done through the Powerhouse Museum website.
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